Adventures, Random Thoughts, and A Little Zen

Adventures, Random Thoughts, and A Little Zen
Boneyard Beach, Bull Island, Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge, South Carolina

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

What a Difference a Day Makes


I haven’t ridden my bicycle as much since this adventure started back in May, so when I do get out, it seems a bit more special than just a workout.  For example, my last ride about a week ago, I ended up riding the trail through the park in my fastest time, but its not like I set it as a goal for the day.  Today’s ride was really pleasant with a nice breeze and low traffic on the road.  I was feeling pretty good until I came around a corner on the lake trail and saw a guy that I’ve seen before.  He is always sitting at the same place, right before a footbridge over a creek.  He usually has a dog with him that doesn’t seem to mind me whizzing by.  What caught my eye this time was this man taking a swig off a beer bottle that he quickly lowered from his lips and slipped down out of sight as I rounded that corner into his view.  Any other time it may not have seemed out of place, but it was 8:23 in the morning.  How crappy would your life have to be to have beer for breakfast?  The small cooler he had by his side indicates…pretty crappy.  If nothing else these last almost 3 months, I have become more sensitive to the paths others are on.

I got home from my ride to find Miki zzz-ing away, right where I left her.  While sitting on her side of the bed to take off my shoes, she made a comment about a hair tickling her face…the girl is constantly shedding.  I leaned over to run my fingers through her hair and brought back more than the normal few hairs between my fingers.  Two weeks to the day from the start of her chemo, just like they said, her hair was beginning to come out.  I had been anticipating this moment, but hoping she would be the exception.  On the other hand, she was not concerned with the possibility of losing her hair to chemo since day one, but she did not see it coming this morning.  Just as you see on TV, the movies, and hearing from friends, it was coming out in small bunches.  In order to save as much as possible to go through the day ahead, we stopped touching it and treated it delicately until she was ready to shear it all off this evening.  We called David and arranged for he and Alice to bring over his barber shears after dinner.

In the mean time, if you were losing your hair, what would you do?  You go HAT SHOPPING!  Can I get a…“Whup, Whup!!!”…to quote a friend of ours in a text today.  Miki was excited to find something that would become a friend to her baldness until her hair would return.  After radiation today we hit 3 stores, picked up 10 hats, and headed home before nature could sneak up on Miki’s bum (diarrhea seems to be lurking around these days).  It was a good day out!  She enjoyed trying on all the possibilities and my job was to follow her, cleaning the loose hairs out of the hats that wouldn’t make it to the cash register.  With the offers from friends to share their hat collections and scarves, Miki should be set for the duration.  I am not normally big on shopping, but today was a good shopping day!

Now this kind of shopping I can get  in to!
At 6:30, my family ascended on our deck for Miki’s buzz cut.  Barb, Lynn, and Alice removed longer locks to be used at a later date.  They will be used to accessorize some of the hats to trick the untrained eye into thinking they are looking at a woman with a full head of hair.  Little will they know that underneath the disguise is hiding a scalp, as soft and smooth as a baby’s butt.  Then David took   the electric barber shears to even it all up, down to the nubbies.  Finally I attempted to use my electric razor to achieve the finish on a baby grand piano.  I didn’t quite get there, but with some shaving cream and a razor…tomorrow I will claim victory.  All in all, it was a smooth operation and a bald, beautiful Miki emerged from all the hands that took part.  Just yesterday, Miki was commenting on how much she loved her new haircut and how cute the curls were.  She’d spent most of her life fighting them, when she evidently was just looking for the right haircut.  And now without the long locks or the cute curls, she is the same adorable person that I have always known.  What a difference a day makes.  I won’t be running my fingers through her hair for a while, but her cute baldhead will be getting lots of kisses.  We’ll chalk this up as a good day.

In the beginning...
...in transition...
...follicles temporarily out of order!


My Zen from Home:  On the chance that my testosterone level may suffer every time I mention me crying or getting emotional, it happened again.  This morning, after discovering Miki’s hair was escaping, she sat up in bed and I was just looking at her as she seemed to be taking it all in stride.  Tears just welled up, as I was thinking this should not be happening to her and it hammered home that this experience just got more real.  Since May, I have seen Miki as weak and vulnerable as I have ever seen her.  I’ve watched her sleeping, waiting in anticipation to see if her would chest rise, in hopes of taking another breath.  Now losing her hair is just a glimpse as to the battle that must be raging inside her and the intensity of the drugs fighting for her.  Sometimes it is enough to make me want to have a beer for breakfast.

 Bonus Photos...

Fieldtrip!
Eat happily!
Resting with watchful eyes.

No comments:

Post a Comment